The final opener design makes use of several added features to improve the hinge and lip strength as well as improve the aesthetics and ergonomics of the opener.
Hinge and Lip Strength Improvements
To improve the strength of the hinge so that adequate opening torque could be applied, the hinge needed to increased in size. Because lip strength was of greater importance, the part was printed on its side to maximize strength in that direction. However, this orientation caused the hinge to delaminate if the force was too great. For this reason, the hinge has increased in size throughout all the reversions. Additionally, the hinge restricted the opener from moving past a 90 degrees orientation. This helped transfer torque and keep the opener stiff during operation.
To improve the strength of lip, several lip designs were tested. The results from these tests were mixed and are summarized in a previous post. The lip design makes use of a curved edge that fits underneath the lip of the bottle cap. This spreads the stress concentrations out over the length of the cap instead of congested to just one area.
Aesthetics and Ergonomic Improvements
To increase the aesthetics of the opener, the thickness of the opener was increased so that the opener lip would be completely recessed in the closed position.
Additionally, a slot/hole was made so that the opener could be placed on a key ring. The slot/hole design allow the opener to remain on a key chain while it unfolds for bottle opening.
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